Found a quote by Gary about the UK version of the Basic rulebook. From a 2002 interview with an Italian D&D player:

Found a quote by Gary about the UK version of the Basic rulebook. From a 2002 interview with an Italian D&D player:

Q: Games Workshop printed in 1978 (there is a photo in "White Dwarf" #5 of some guests of Games Day III having in their hands brand new copies) an entirely original D&D Basic rulebook, using the original US text but with entirely new art and book design. It's one of the rarest D&D titles in existence, long thought a myth by American collectors... Did you ever see it? What was your opinion at the time?

A: That's going back a ways! Yes, I saw the work, and I approved. Ian and Steve convinced me that their audience didn't like the illustrations used in American versions of the game, so I gave them the okay to produce their own. I had a copy of the Basic Set rules, but it was lost when Lorraine Williams took over TSR, locked me out of my office, and seized and never returned most of the games and books I had collected and stored therein.
http://www.thekyngdoms.com/interviews/garygygax.php